Start ‘em young.

Spain is a fascinating place when it comes to density patterns. Very sharp boundaries between cities and rural areas. This example just outside of Valencia has densely-built mid-rises on one side of the road, farms on the other.

Toronto’s streetcars are an icon of the city (the largest system in North America!). But they’re also disappointingly slow compared to other tram cities (and sometimes even compared to Toronto’s own buses). A 10-point plan from local professionals and advocates to fix the problem.

Medium vs High Density: Why Do We Have to Choose?

A cool channel about cycling and infrastructure in the Paris region to check out. A mix of FR/EN, coverage of the city and the suburbs. (I’m jealous: March in Paris means leaves starting to come back to trees, while here in Montreal it’s still snowing.)

A cool channel about cycling and infrastructure in the Paris region to check out. A mix of FR/EN, coverage of the city and the suburbs. (I’m jealous: March in Paris means leaves starting to come back to trees, while here in Montreal it’s still snowing.)

Fundamentally I really, really wish I could convey to bike infrastructure critics what it’s actually like to ride a bike and plan your route in a North American city. They see a bike lane here and there and think “look at all those bike lanes!” with zero experience of actually trying to use them.

68% of households in Paris proper (population: 2 million) do not own a car.

Medium vs High Density: Why Do We Have to Choose?

How can this go on for another 3 years?

If developers always build up to the maximum (density, height, etc.) that’s allowed in your city, that’s a sign that your zoning rules are substantially restricting housing supply.

Nice code for “seeking to establish an American colony”.

If 44% of neighbourhoods in the US or Canada were solidly walkable, that would be an enormous win.

Let's not make this "NATO's war".

My housing consumption: good, virtuous, decommodified, proletarian. Your housing consumption: bad, vulgar, profit-driven, bourgeois.

It really seems like docked bike share (which can include scooters, like in Chicago) is the way to go.

You never know when a tsunami might sweep down the Rhine, destroying all in its path. So really, nuclear power is just too risky.

World leaders are trying to manage a hostile and deranged US president with flattery. On top of the fact that it’s not clear this actually works. It also gives his supporters the ability to believe that he’s normal or even admired, instead of a pariah.

the left nimby program in a nutshell 1: "decommodify housing" 2: sadly, no new housing is built 3: i inherit my parents' house

Someone on YouTube was surprised that it snows in March in Canada. Yep! Sometimes in April too. But then May is heavenly.

It’s fascinating (and sad) watching the opposition to high-speed rail in Canada take shape, including from a drone channel I watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2vT...

I know how the term is normally used. But if you bike for transportation year-round in all weather, and you’re active in advocacy for safe streets and bike infrastructure — I think you’re technically much more of an “avid cyclist” than someone who bikes for exercise on weekends in the summer.

Every day feels like a new low.

Increasingly convinced that californian local governments should be forbidden from making decisions about anything at all

Some time ago I estimated how much we spend on charging our tern HSD based on the fact that we charge it every few days, the size of the battery, and electricity prices. It works out to about $20 a year. It also turns out that we do around 3k a year +/- 500km.

California has TWO building codes. One is very strict, but the other? Not so much. The very strict one applies to commercial & multifamily (except duplexes). The lax one applies to single-family houses & duplexes only. That’s why we build light wood frame houses in extreme fire hazard zones!

In the video I noted actual transit experts (like @humantransit.bsky.social) tend to be negative on free transit. Some said that was just an “appeal to authority”. I don't like that “fallacy” framing. Something isn’t automatically true because an expert said it. But it is more likely to be true!

Do people who supported or enabled this lunatic have any shame? Or self-awareness? I ask myself this almost every day.

Canadian conservatives should hate Donald Trump if only for the fact that he set the stage for the most dramatic reversal in political fortunes I have ever seen.

CATO: “.. After more than two weeks of consistent bombing, new US intelligence suggests Iran’s regime is now consolidating power, unlikely to collapse, and led by a cadre more extreme than before.” @cato.org @scottlincicome.bsky.social www.cato.org/blog/strateg...

“DOOMED”, “UNLIVABLE”, “WORST Transit in North America” When you want a YouTube channel dedicated to hating Toronto for some reason.

a hugely underrated aspect of parliamentary systems is the snap election. far superior to impeachment, which was a dumb design to start with and straight up does not work anymore

I often hear people from California (e.g., SF) saying that high-rises don’t pencil there. I always thought: Really? They can build high-rises in small Canadian cities you’ve never heard of, but not the wealthiest and most expensive housing market on earth? Maybe this has something to do with it!

Afghanistan’s most popular phone-in TV show is hosted by an unveiled woman who airs viewers’ complaints about the Taliban, up to 6000 calls per show. I spent time with the courageous refugees, many Canadian, who create this show from exile with little support www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

California and New York permit much less housing per capita than Texas or Florida (or Ontario or Alberta).

I think Trump and MAGA are categorically worse than what came before. But also, I vividly remember being disturbed by how American media covered the Iraq War. The war death figures always seemed to mean US soldiers and not include Iraqi civilians.

L’analyse des pistes cyclables ne suffit pas. Projet Montréal réclame un audit des zones « véritablement les plus dangereuses » pour les personnes qui se déplacent à pied, à vélo ou en voiture. Et ces zones, selon les données scientifiques, sont les grandes artères et les intersections.

Our inability to think about housing mainly in terms of “how can we meet demand?” (instead of “neighbourhood character”, “investment goes up”, etc.) played a fundamental role in Canadians turning against immigration.

Quebec and British Columbia really outpacing Ontario and Alberta on EV sales.

Another very good example of how woefully inadequate service is a much more important determinant than bargain basement fares in whether people will switch to PT from driving, especially when paired with ubiquitous underpricing of car-based transport.

from the first paragraph! the Chinese "real estate crisis" is not the same as the US "real estate crash" even though housing an investment there. Chinese developers took risks, built into the teeth of a housing oversupply, and suffered the consequences. it's what anti-Yimbys insist never happens

This is a colossally stupid piece of writing. It claims "rising house prices in the UK are not the result of under-supply." But that's just not true. Independent assessments say *four million* UK households are in need of new housing. pure.hw.ac.uk/ws/portalfil...

Free Transit Sounds Great. Here’s Why I’m Against It. youtu.be/0L4g8AbfLTM

Funny to think that some places responded to the 1970s oil crisis by supporting alternatives to driving. While others decided that they’re not going to allow pesky things like “red lights” or “pedestrians” slow drivers down and waste precious gas.

This was one of the reasons why MTL decided not to allow RTOR when Québec did it in 2003. The leading pedestrian signals had been in use since the 90s, RTOR would have made them useless. www.lapresse.ca/actualites/g...

I never thought about it like that, but this doesn’t work nearly as well when drivers can turn right on red!

I really appreciate that traffic lights in my city give pedestrians a head start over drivers on green/walk. (A Leading Pedestrian Interval or LPI.) Where you live, do you typically encounter this at intersections or not?

“There’s no bad weather, only bad clothing” also doesn’t work for winter climates. You can’t dress your way through snow. Cities need to plow and maintain bike lanes for snow/ice just like roads and sidewalks.

It feels like we’re playing Jenga with the underpinnings of society. There‘s the peaceful transfer of power norm. There’s the norm against antisemitism. There’s the stable global energy market. Idk how long this is sustainable before something breaks for good.